For the first time in a decade, students in Newport-Mesa saw their scores decline, albeit slightly, on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) assessments that measure proficiency in English-language arts and math and other subjects.

After a year of full-time employment with the city of Costa Mesa, a worker represented by the current contract for general employees receives 92 hours of paid vacation.
But the city recently proposed a two-year labor contract that would slash that...

I let this issue go for three months, thinking my concern might go away. It hasn't.
Ever since I saw the new bridge overpass on San Miguel Drive, I've had a concern about it's safety. And I don't mean structurally, but in terms of the ease with which...

Ahoy!
Greetings from San Francisco Bay. I am visiting this week to watch the Louis Vuitton Cup final races between the Italian team, Luna Rossa, and the Emirates Team New Zealand.
As of my column's deadline, both teams had one win each from the...

The mysterious appearance of an unpermitted trail in Fairview Park has drawn federal attention.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contacted Costa Mesa officials about the potential loss of federally protected vernal pools within the 208-acre park, according to an email Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz sent to the City Council and city officials.
The FWS has "requested the city work with them in the identification, delineation and restoration/mitigation of any of the federally...

Dennis Popp's first interaction with Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer was framed by a loaded question.
"I've been reading that you're trying to be emperor of Costa Mesa," Popp recalled asking him. "Where's your crown?"
Popp had just stepped in front of the politician, who was walking. By Popp's account, a startled Righeimer looked at him and replied: "Well, it wore a bald spot up here, and I left it at home."
In the two years since that small showdown, Popp has dug into the political scene and found...

Newport Beach officials said Tuesday that the damage done to the Balboa pier when a 50-foot yacht drifted into it is minimal.
A mechanical problem caused the privately owned yacht, called Lucky 7, to lose power Sunday, preventing it from proceeding on its set path, officials said. The vessel, which was also unable to stop and drop its anchor, drifted into the pier about 8 p.m.
None of the estimated 13 people aboard the yacht was injured, according to a Newport Beach Police Department news release,...

Three office buildings in Mission Viejo and Irvine have sold in two transactions that, combined, industry observers valued at more than $90 million as investor demand for Orange County commercial properties heats up.
The sales to large national investors are a sign that the county’s office market is recovering from the drubbing it took after the mortgage industry began to contract in 2007, said real estate broker Ryan Gallagher of HFF.
Before that, lenders such as New Century Financial Corp....

An ecologically sensitive vernal pool at Fairview Park was "modified" by some decomposed granite placed over a portion of it, according to a city-commissioned environmental study.
LSA Associates' six-page report, dated Tuesday, gave recommendations for repairing the damage to Vernal Pool 6, a small portion of which was affected by the decomposed granite (DG) placed onto two paths that converge in Fairview Park's southeastern edge and go over a small segment of the pool.
The pool, which is between 0.02...

On behalf of the Knots of Love volunteers, I would like to clarify some facts about our yarn-bombing project recently covered by your newspaper ("Yarn bombing delivers colorful message," Aug. 13).
We are a nonprofit that survives solely on the beneficence of everyday people, both in monetary gifts and donated caps. Some interpreted our yarn-bombing project at The Lab Anti-Mall as a waste of valuable time and money that could have been better spent working toward our mission of creating caps and...